GVA reports that hotels sector stands firm in Brexit winds

TypeNews

Date15/02/2018

Against a backdrop of Brexit uncertainty that has subdued the growth of other commercial sectors, the hotels sector has continued to grow both in London and the regions, and has become an increasingly popular choice with investors.

Following this increased interest, GVA has today launched its inaugural Hotels Economic and Property Market Review, providing an analysis of the hotel performance, supply and investment trends throughout key UK markets that determined performance in 2017, and an outlook for the year ahead.

Some key findings from the report:

In 2017, investment transactions in the hotel industry exceeded £3.9 billion, up 25% on 2016, while the number of overseas visitors and the popularity of domestic ‘staycations’ saw a modest rise in occupancy in both the regions and London, up 0.5% and 0.3% respectively. In line with this, both the regional and London market have displayed a positive growth story, with estimates suggesting supply increased in 2017 by 5.6% in London and 2.1% in the UK regions. This is set to grow further in 2018, with new room openings forecasted to rise by 4.6% and 2.4% in London and the regions respectively.

Investment has been underpinned by the international appetite for UK hotels, accounting for 60% of transactions value in 2017 compared to only 20% in 2016. This was based not only on the continued interest from established investors, with US, Middle Eastern and Far Eastern buyers accounting for 28%, 23% and 12% of the value purchased by overseas investors respectively, but also numerous countries such as South Africa and Sweden increasing their presence in the market. Indeed, 29% of the value was uncategorised and suggests a wide array of global interest as UK hotel assets provide long term security.

Development growth has been largely driven by rising returns and investment values offsetting building costs to make hotel developments viable in an increasing number of areas, with this year bringing significant openings in cities including Bristol, Glasgow, Manchester, Liverpool and Cambridge.

This has also shaped supply in London although on a smaller geographical scale, as rising Average Daily Rates (ADRs) and emerging areas associated with the financial services and tech sectors have pushed out the boundaries from centrally focussed development into the City, Shoreditch and Docklands. Looking ahead, the rising Revenue per available room (RevPAR) will continue to support development activity and bring more areas into scope.

Martin Davis, GVA said: “The UK Hotel market grew in popularity amongst investors in 2017 despite Brexit uncertainties, with rising returns and investment values bringing more markets and areas into consideration as viable development projects, and hotel occupancy up 10% above its 2008 pre-recession peak, in spite of disrupters such as Airbnb. Like other markets, we have seen development polarise between more traditionally high-end assets and a thriving market for ‘budget’ properties, with 44% of the development pipeline openings being in the budget sector, followed by 32% in all four-star properties.

“Looking ahead, while there will be headwinds facing the sector with margins likely to come under pressure from labour, food and utility cost rises and increasing business rates, we expect that with significant deals, such as the proposed sale of Jurys Inn, and the likely, if modest, increase in yields as well as ADR and RevPAR, the hotel investment market will remain strong in London, Manchester and many of the key regional cities in 2018.”